1. Field of the Invention
Applicant's invention relates to prosthetic replacement and augmentation of skeletal components or therapeutic manipulations of deformities thereof.
2. Background Information
Applicant herein is the inventor of a vertical prosthetic rib which is the subject of two patent applications now pending before the United States Patent & Trademark Office--Ser. No. 07/338,227 filed 04/14/89 and a continuation-in-part application filed on 04/13/90 as a PCT application, International Application No. PCT/US90/02018. The disclosure contained in the aforementioned patent applications is incorporated herein by reference.
The vertical prosthetic rib of applicant's invention as claimed in the aforementioned two patent applications ordinarily requires at least two natural ribs to which the vertical prosthetic rib may be anchored. Furthermore, one of these two natural ribs must be superior to the thoracic region to be spanned by the vertical prosthetic rib and the other must be inferior thereto.
There are occasions where no natural rib is available at the desired superior termination point of the vertical prosthetic rib. There may be no natural rib in that position at all, or the natural rib(s) in that area may be damaged or congenitally too unstable to serve as a suitable support for the vertical prosthetic rib.
In a number of occasions known to Applicant, the vertical prosthetic rib is virtually the only practical life-saving means available to address a profound chest wall defect and yet there is no natural rib in the superior position. In these situations, the lack of any superior anchor site for the vertical prosthetic rib may translate to death of the patient.